BID proposes £30,000 on signage

Time of the signs -

how run-down

Boston might

spend £100,000 award ...

Hot on the heels of our look yesterday at the Task and Finish Group report on Boston BID – and its so-called achievements – a survey has named Boston as the worst performing area in the East Midlands for business … after the borough suffered a net loss of 117 companies over the past two years.
The study, by Experian – the global information services group – counted the number of new companies and firms made insolvent in local authority districts across England.
Boston was ranked 298th out of 324 after its total number of companies fell from 3,020 to 2,903 in the last two years.
Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce told the BBC that various factors were to blame.
Members had identified a lack of investment in road and rail infrastructure as a potential contributory factor, as well as Boston's classification as a high-risk flood area.
They had also reported a brain drain  - with large numbers of bright young people leaving to attend university but very few returning to live in the area.
Chief executive Simon Beardsley said: "There has been some reduction in the total as a consequence of take-overs and mergers, particularly in the legal and financial sectors.
"Also, there is simply less product on the move and fewer people travelling - small hauliers and small bus companies are less evident.
"Overall, I would say it is a picture of fewer companies fighting for a share of a shrinking market while costs continue to rise."
In summary, it’s accurate, but vague and not really helpful.
Given that Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce plays a significant role in Boston BID  - in that it controls the so-called “golden share” which takes all major decisions affecting the BID, we feel that the reaction should be more proactive and less supine.
So where do we go from here?
There seems a peculiar irony in having a business “improvement” district that has been in existence for three years – when the last two have seen local businesses toppling like ninepins.
It is not rocket science to “identify” underinvestment in road and rail as a potential contributory factor in the town’s decline. You may as well blame the weather.
The flood risk issue is well known – but whilst the great and the good maunder on about it ad nauseam – that's all they seem to do.
And as far as the brain drain is concerned – we are sorry to say that it will continue whilst our local "leaders" and the borough’s MP cling to the idea that the career path for our young people is a seamless journey from the classroom to the packhouse.
A separate Experian survey underlines another problem facing Boston.
It rates the borough 76th out of 327 local authorities ranked by poverty.
Meanwhile, Boston is pressing ahead with its bid to be a Portas Pilot – which would earn it  £100,000 to transform 12 "unloved and unused" high streets across the UK.
But its suggestions on how to spend it lack imagination, and we don’t really see them as winners.
Topping the list is £10,000 to appoint a part time project manager. More jobs for the boys.
But the highest allocation - £30,000 - is for signage … so be careful where you walk!
The list of “challenges” facing the town is daunting …
It includes a  "poor appearance" and a high proportion of “bargain basement” stores such as Poundland – without seeming to realise that in an area of high poverty, these are the very shops that make life affordable for many people.
It says that there are too many similar businesses such as hairdressers -  together with large numbers of charity shops – yet fails to note the burgeoning number of off licences and mobile phone shops.
Access and parking is mentioned along with “economic challenges,” graffiti and anti-social behaviour, an “undeserved” bad reputation, poor planning policy, lack of enforcement by council, ethnic tensions and red tape.
Significantly, the bid by the BID notes without any sense of irony that “There is a desire to see improvements which is stronger that the desire to lead these projects” – which pretty well sums sit up!
We believe that the descriptor is “all mouth and no trousers!”

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Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com